China's top climate official faces daunting task in helping to craft policies on nation's vast carbon emissions

Pencils made out of recycled materials being used in meeting rooms and a recycled plastic bottle recycling machine in the lobby. China’s top planning agency is adopting small green measures as it draws up plans to establish energy efficiency for the nation.

The National Development and Reform Commission, which establishes policies for the country's economic and social development, also oversees China's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve energy efficiency and ensure sustainable development. Those green efforts are being led by China's top climate official Xie Zhenhua, who stepped into the position in December 2006.

Xie has been China's lead negotiator for the last three United Nations climate change conferences, in Denmark, Mexico and South Africa. He was the head of the environment ministry before resigning in 2005 because of the Jilin chemical plant explosions.

His task is a daunting one. Throughout China's exponential growth over the past three decades and its enormous efforts to sustain its economic momentum through the 2008 financial crisis, it has also released a vast amount of carbon emissions. The burning of fossil fuels, mostly coal, is a major contributor to its air pollution and a major cause of rising greenhouse gas emissions. Coal still accounts for about 68 percent of China's energy consumption.

"China's current development achievement has been achieved at a high cost to the environment. Now it has entered a new development stage to offset those (historic) debts," says Xie, whose office is adorned with a plaque that reads Dao fa zi ran, which translates into "Nature follows its own way", a hallmark of ancient Chinese philosophy.

And while many Chinese cities have been ravaged by smog in the last two years, it has created the impetus in Xie, many of China's decision-makers and the public to create greater awareness of the consequences of pollution. He says it has also opened a window of opportunity for the nation to transition to a more green economy.

For Xie, the vice-chairman of China's top economic development body and a veteran in the area of environmental protection, it is a chance to set things right.

"The smog problem has been so serious in China. If we still follow the old extensive development model, society will be unsatisfied," says Xie. "There is no time to waste in dealing with the risks of climate change."

He says the Chinese government recognizes that human activities are responsible for the rise in global greenhouse gases and that as a major greenhouse gas emitter, China is under unavoidable pressure from the international community. Still, Xie says pressure from the Chinese public has been more stressful on the central government.

He says one of the major dilemmas that China faces is the balance between boosting economic growth and tempering it with green policies. The two missions have become increasingly in focus as the nation restructures its economy toward a low carbon path.

He insists China's determination to cut its greenhouse gas emissions is of its own choosing and not a response to international pressure. He adds that the nation's push to become more environmentally friendly has the support of its top leaders.

Chinese decision-makers intend to use ambitious goals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, he says.

China has pledged to cut carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP in 2020 by 40 to 45 percent from 2005 levels. It will make every effort to reach the ceiling level of 45 percent, Xie said at a news conference before the climate change conference in Lima, Peru, this month.

President Xi Jinping recently said China will hit a peak level of CO2 emissions by 2030 in a joint announcement with US President Barack Obama in Beijing.

Goals to "markedly" reduce carbon intensity will be included in a package of China's post-2020 actions that will be submitted to the UN in the first half of next year.

In explaining his views on climate change negotiations, Xie says the ultimate goal is to create a win-win situation instead of zero-sum game. Nations must figure out a plan by taking into account all interests from all sides.

Climate change is an increasingly urgent challenge that requires multilateral efforts, says Xie.

(China Daily European Weekly 12/05/2014 page16)